Intellectual Property Task Force will analyse tech transfer policies in North America to present to US congress.
Duane Nellis, president of Texas Tech University, is joining the Intellectual Property Task Force, established by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (Aplu) to look at tech transfer.
The task force will consider university innovation, commercialisation and entrepreneurship and will analyse institutions’ related policies and procedures. The group has been set up with a view of influencing US congress’ expected focus on patents in 2015. One of the task force’s key goals will be to identify policies which may create the impression that universities exploit tech transfer purely for financial gain.
The group is staffed by seven members. Its chairs are Satish Tripathi (president at Buffalo University) and Sethuraman Panchanathan (senior vice-president of knowledge enterprise development at Arizona State University). The members are Patricia Beeson (provost and senior vice-chancellor at Pittsburgh University), Duane Nellis (president at Texas Tech University), Lita Nelson (director of technology licensing at MIT), Bill Tucker (executive director of innovation alliances and services at the University of California system’s office of the president), Doug Wasitis (assistant vice-president of federal relations at Indiana University), Ruth Watkins (senior vice-president of academic affairs at Utah University) and Caroline Whitacre (vice-president of research at Ohio State University).
Aplu was set up in 1887 to represent North American universities. It has grown to include 206 campuses and 25 university systems, spread throughout all 50 US states as well as District of Columbia and four territories, and Canada and Mexico.
Preliminary comments by the task force are expected by December, with work due to be completed in spring 2015.
Duane Nellis said: “As universities across the country continue to enhance and strengthen their research enterprises, it is important we, as higher education leaders, come together and reinforce the academic scholarship practiced in these endeavours. I appreciate the opportunity Peter McPherson has given me to represent not only higher education, but also Texas Tech University, in the dialogue.”